The present invention relates the authoring of video and/or audio content (referred to generically herein as video/audio content), and programmatic content for storage on or transmission through a medium, and more particularly to a software engine for authoring video and/or audio content, and programmatic content for storage on or transmission through a medium, such as an optical storage medium, or a computer network (such as through downloading of a multimedia file, or streaming of video or audio). Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a software engine for receiving a definition for video or audio content and for combining the definition with programmatic content developed in a development environment, and for outputting a ROM image or transmission image as a function of the definition and the programmatic content.
Software authoring tools in the computer software industry provide various mechanisms to assist the software author in preparing software deliverables suitable for use by an end user. The purpose of these software-authoring tools is to provide a mechanism by which otherwise tedious and repetitive tasks can be streamlined. This may involve, for example, the conversion of software source code of one type into software source code of another type or the provision of subroutine libraries that can be invoked by or included by a software author in software deliverables in order to effect a business method sought to be achieved through a particular software implementation.
Recently, a great deal of attention has been focused on the digital video disk (DVD) industry, with deployment of DVD technology exceeding that of all prior or similar technologies, e.g., audio cassette tapes, video tapes, laser disks, compact disks and the like to a significant degree.
The use of DVD technology on computers, such as personal computers, has provided a combination that allows a degree of interactivity to be achieved between DVD content and an end user. Problematically, mechanisms for controlling DVD hardware using computer software have been quite primitive and limited in nature, and significant interactivity has been restrained.
With the Internet now a further mechanism for interactivity, the computer software industry's lack of DVD interactivity mechanisms has only further been highlighted.
The present invention advantageously addresses the above and other needs.